Central line infections still plague hospitals. Reducing them is a Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG.07.04.01) and they represent a CMS "never event" that is reported publicly on its Hospital Compare website. Unfortunately, central lines are necessary,...
Most clinicians have probably done it. They might do it out in the open or sneak it in when supervisors aren't watching. Some might do it several times a day, while others might not even realize they're doing it. What are all these people doing? Workarounds.
Research findings call on hospital leaders to take a deeper look at how staff—primarily nurses—interact with patients, to determine a way for patients at highest risk for infection to come into contact with fewer workers.
The most recent round of administrative penalties for hospital deficiencies constituting immediate jeopardy includes two patient falls resulting in deaths, a wrong-site surgery, and a retained surgical object. Click the link above to read more.
The latest round of scores that measure rates of errors and infections, indicators of safe practices, shows an increase in the number of hospitals that earned the lowest score. Leapfrog's CEO Leah Binder calls that "a troubling trend."
As I wander around the countryside visiting hospitals of all shapes and sizes, there are a few common challenges that seem to give just about everyone fits. And probably among the most common of commonalities is the challenge of managing patient lifting and all the inherent risks of that...
Researchers estimate that each additional nurse-hour per patient day is associated with 10% lower odds of receiving penalties under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. Click the link above to read more.
Reaching in once again to the viewer mailbag, we find a question regarding the laundering of staff uniforms. In this particular instance, this organization is moving from a business casual dress code for medical staff to providing scrubs (three sets each) to promote uniformity of attire (sorry,...
